A PLANNED US$20 million sugar refinery has the potential to secure the long-term future of Guyana’s sugar industry, provided production at Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is ramped up to meet market demand, says Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) President, Seepaul Narine.
Speaking in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on the state of the sugar industry, Narine recalled that there has long been strong regional demand for white sugar, and that earlier plans had also envisaged a refinery component.
Now with investors indicating a willingness to purchase all of GuySuCo’s sugar for refining, this would effectively guarantee a market for the corporation’s output.
“If GuySuCo could have been able to produce the sugar then, it would have been a positive for them,” Narine said, adding that the refinery could help ensure “the future of the industry is secure”.
The Caribbean imports around 200,000 tonnes of refined sugar each year, totalling US$180 million in 2024.
With the new plant projected to produce 100,000 tonnes per year and designed with scalability for future expansion, Guyana is poised to become a major contributor to the region’s refined sugar needs.
However, Narine cautioned that the main challenge for the refinery would be securing adequate sugar supply, given GuySuCo’s current production constraints.
At present, he explained, GuySuCo has been hit by bad weather and factory challenges which, together, contributed to a fall in production. The corporation has also been forced to carry over a substantial quantity of cane into the next year because it was unable to harvest it in time due to climate change challenges.
Despite these setbacks, Narine was firm in his support for the ongoing investments in GuySuCo.
“I think the investment is worth every cent,” he said. “GuySuCo has to be looked at not only from the point of view of the bottom line. It has to be looked at from the point of view of what it is providing today to the economy and to the Guyanese people as a whole.”
He described some of the industry’s services as “priceless”, pointing in particular to GuySuCo’s crucial role in preventing flooding along the coast, as well as its support for thousands of families and communities across the country.
Narine argued that, far from cutting back, even greater investments should be made in the sugar company, given its economic, social and environmental importance.
Looking ahead, the GAWU President expressed confidence that GuySuCo and the wider sugar industry will endure.
“GuySuCo is an industry that will survive long into the future, and it should continue to be supported,” he said.
The refinery, he noted too, could be a key pillar in that future, locking in markets for local sugar, strengthening GuySuCo’s prospects, and reinforcing sugar’s longstanding role in Guyana’s economy.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali recently met with investors advancing the development of a 100,000-tonne white sugar refinery at the former Wales Sugar Estate, a project that is expected to boost Guyana’s sugar industry and strengthen the regional supply chain.
The refinery is being established by local company Gaico Inc. in partnership with US-based Sucro, which has developed three similar facilities in the region, including the Caribbean Sugar Refinery and Santander Sugar in Belize. Once operational, the plant is expected to create a dedicated and reliable market for sugar produced by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
According to the investors, the project will generate approximately 75 jobs during its construction phase and an additional 60 permanent jobs once operations begin. The refinery is expected to be completed and operational within a year.
The development forms part of ongoing efforts to revitalise the former Wales Estate, which has been earmarked for major agro-industrial investment since the closure of sugar operations there in 2017.